One of the most common questions I'm asked about skin conditions on the foot is, "Is this a wart?". Here's a quick way to tell if you have a wart.
Nicholas Campitelli, DPM | Akron Podiatrist | Foot and Ankle Surgeon
The Foot Doc Blog – Leading Blog on foot and ankle pain
Providing information on foot, toes, and ankle pain or deformities. Questions? Please ask them in the comments section below. Check out our Youtube and Instagram sites as well.
With winter’s arrival, many of us will begin seeing patients with weather-related injuries present to our offices. One of the most common conditions tends to be Raynaud's disease. It is important to distinguish between Raynaud’s disease and Raynaud’s phenomenon as they are two clinically different presentations that are characterized by the severity of the symptoms. Raynaud's disease is the milder of the two conditions as it presents with vasospasm alone and has no association with other systemic diseases.
Foot wounds and ulcerations are extremely common amongst diabetic patients due to their loss of sensation, decreased blood flow and compromised immune system. These wounds can sometimes take many months to heal and require weekly visits to debride or “clean out” the wounds.
Here is a short video of a surgical excision of a plantar wart that was located on the back of a patients heel. These typically will not respond to topical acid therapy the way that warts on the sole of the foot do. Surgery is performed in office and the sutures are generally removed in 10-14 days.
You probably never thought of seeing a podiatrist for a skin check, right? Although malignant melanomas are not common in the foot, they do occur and I have seen them. Here are some examples below.
Taking a new medication and you suddenly developed a rash? It may be an allergic reaction to the medication. This is not too common, but common enough that it presents to my office.
Here are several examples of the classic eruptions to the skin from a drug allergy.
Nope, it’s not nail polish. This Is what happens when you soak your feet in potassium chloride. Well, a solution of it that is. This patient was attempting to use an old remedy to resolve a chronic foot pain by soaking his foot in a solution of potassium chloride and water. He temporarily stained his toenails as you can see. Although the acid has left a black discoloration, it is only temporary and will grow out.
If you’ve ever known someone to have a leg ulcer that took months to heal, then you’ll appreciate how long and complex leg and foot wounds can be. There are many health variables which play a role in why some of these wounds take longer to heal which is specialized wound centers exist to care for these wounds. Our practice works at two wound centers in Ohio where we see unimaginable wounds of all complexities and we have an large array of resources to treat these wounds. Hyberic oxygen chambers exist to improve oxygenation of blood in patients who have bone infection or poor blood supply. Sometimes we implant skin grafts or new bioengineered tissue substitutes to close a wound quicker than it would take to heal naturally.
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